Agenda item

Members considered the Annual Audit and Inspection Letter, which had been produced by the Audit Commission.  It provided an overall summary of the Audit Commission’s assessment of the Council.  It drew on the most recent Comprehensive Performance Assessment (CPA) and the findings and conclusions from the audit of the Council for 2007/08.

The CPA carried out in 2004 assessed the Council as good.  The assessments were now being updated in Councils where there was evidence of change.  In the Direction of Travel report, two issues were considered.  These were what evidence was there of the Council improving outcomes, and how much progress was being made to implement improvement plans to sustain improvement. 

The letter listed the evidence that the Council was improving outcomes in the areas of opportunity and choice of housing and employment, diverse and vibrant communities, safe and inclusive communities and clean and sustainable built and natural environment.  The letter reported that it was difficult to judge progress against the commitment to have an effective and integrated communication and transport network as there was a lack of data on key local performance indicators in this area.  It also stated that the Council reported that its priority actions in the area of having efficient and effective high quality services accessible to everyone in a way that suited them were on target or close to being so.  It had not, however made consistent improvement on its key performance indicators in this area.  

Regarding how much progress was being made to implement plans to sustain improvement, the report indicated that the council had adequate plans for delivering improvement.  The letter indicated that the Council had significantly reviewed its capital programme and revised some of the plans as it had become evident that the original objective was not achievable.  The previous year’s report had indicated that the Council had made slower than expected progress in some areas including developing a business Continuity Plan and ensuring all staff received development reviews.  The letter reported that there had been further slippage on both.  Staff absence was another area where improvement had not been as expected,.

The letter indicated that the Chief Finance Officer had reported that reserves were in a healthy position and were sufficient to cover emergencies and unforeseen liabilities.  It indicated that the Council had made faster than average progress in the promotion of race equality, having gone from worst to best quartile on this indicator in the last three years. 

The letter indicated that there were no significant weaknesses in corporate governance that would prevent improvement levels being sustained. 

The appointed auditor Deloitte LLP had reported separately to Overview and Scrutiny committee on the issues arising from the 2007/08 audit and had issued;

• An audit report providing an unqualified opinion on the accounts and a conclusion on the value for money arrangements to say the arrangements were adequate.
• An opinion to state the whole of government accounts submission was consistent with the audited accounts
• A report on the Best Value Performance Plan confirming that the Plan had been audited.

For the purposes of the CPA, the auditor had assessed the Council’s arrangement for the use or resources.  These were split into 5 areas, being financial reporting, financial management, financial standing, internal control and value for money.  Overall the assessment of the audit commission was 3 out of 4, which represented an improvement on the prior year scores.

The balance of the general fund at 31 March 2008 was £1,339,000 after the Council contributed £191,000 in 2007/08.  This was within the target range for reserves set by the Council.  Deloitte did not identify any fundamental weaknesses in the financial and accounting systems. 

            Resolved:

            That the Annual Audit and Inspection Letter be accepted.